It’s Shohei Ohtani’s baseball world and we’re all just living in it. The Los Angeles Angels phenom is doing things we’ve never seen before in Major League Baseball. He’s putting up league-leading statistics in home runs and slugging percentage while posting Cy Young worthy pitching numbers. It’s unlike anything we’ve seen since the days of Babe Ruth, pitching and batting, something that has become very rare in modern baseball.
Ohtani is making waves as both a batter and pitcher, which has him at the top of the AL MVP conversation early on in the 2021 MLB season. Hell, he’s put up good enough pitching stats to warrant some hype in the AL Cy Young race. He’s leading the League in HRs on Wednesday, May 19, with 14 through 39 games. He also has 33 RBI and a .956 OPS for the Halos. As far as pitching stats, Ohtani is posting a 2.10 ERA with a 1.21 WHIP and 40 strikeouts in 25.2 IP.
So with Ohtani doing something none of us have seen, it warrants some extra attention. We’ll be tracking Ohtani’s stats — both at the plate and on the mound — while also providing updates on where he’s at in terms of fantasy baseball and AL MVP and Cy Young odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
May 19 update — Ohtani struggled a bit in his latest start against the Cleveland Indians, tossing 4.2 innings while allowing 2 ER on 5 hits with 2 BBs and 5 Ks. The Halos starter saw his ERA move up to 2.37 in the process. Ohtani was also quiet at the plate against Aaron Civale and the Tribe, going 1-for-3 while also getting caught stealing. After being crowned the new AL MVP favorite, Wednesday night left a lot to be desired but there are still plenty of games for Ohtani before Trout gets back into the lineup.